Sins of Yesterday
by Blades
Summary: The Prophecy came and went. Yet the war continues. What of loved ones? What of the darker forces that have come to destroy them all?


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The Sins of Yesterday

(All characters, places, names, etc, belong to J.K. Rowling)

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Prelude

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Cokeworth, England

Unseasonably cool winds blew across the simple stone marker, carrying away the dead leaves that had accumulated atop and alongside its basin. Though it was already May, the weather did not seem to cooperate with the season, and the chill in the air only added to the already dull gray skies, increasing the weight that filled the heart of the young woman walking down the simple road nearby.

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Her heavy cloak swayed in the wind as she drew it tighter about herself, trying to carefully hold on to the simple red rose she carried in her left hand as she came closer to the marker. She was a hero, as great as any who had ever walked the world before, though there were very few in this world who even knew who she was.

Her name was Hermione Granger, and though she was a great and powerful witch, there were some kinds of magic that even she could not perform. The hardest and saddest of which was bringing back the dead.

The simple stone tablet standing at the edge of the cliffs, looking out to the ocean beyond would have no meaning to any who did not carry a wand, for it was nothing more than a pillar, the smooth gray sides untouched by hand or weather.

Beyond the edge of the cliffs stood a simple large uprising with a cabin only accessible by boat or broomstick.

Hermione stopped just before the stone and pulled her pointed hat from her head, revealing her tightly pulled back brown hair. Her eyes hid behind half-moon glasses, but the tears that fell down her cheeks could not be covered.

Slowly, she raised her wand and thought a simple spell in her mind as the light came from the end. As if written by an invisible hand, letters began to appear on the stone pillar, glowing as brightly as the wand she held.

_"On this spot, 26th May, 2007, occurred the greatest battle in the history of England. Here, is where we lost Harry Potter forever. Our hero, our mentor, our friend."_

Hermione wiped away a tear and laid the rose in her hand at the bottom of the pillar.

"Sorta thought I might run into you here," a familiar voice solemnly called from behind. "Seems the only time of the year I ever see you, anymore."

Hermione relaxed her grip on her wand, settling herself a little as she turned and lifted her arms around her old friend, his long red ponytail falling across her face.

"Thought this would get easier after a few years," Hermione whispered.

"You know, we don't really know for sure if he's dead or not," Ron answered. "Never found his body. Even those who have the sight couldn't tell for sure if he passed on to the other world or not, though those guys are usually cracked, anyway, right?"

"How are the others?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, you know…Life goes on," Ron answered with a shrug as he lifted his wand to read the writing on the pillar. "Bill and Fleur are doing well, business is well with Fred and George, Mum and Dad are as well as can be despite everything with Percy, and Ginny…"

"…Yeah," Hermione answered so Ron wouldn't have to finish. "I know. I half hoped she'd show today."

"Well, at any rate, the others should be coming along," Ron answered. "Luna, Neville, the others. The Order of the Phoenix has to meet every year, it's kind of a tradition, now, isn't it?"

"Five years," Hermione whispered to herself. "Can you believe it's been five years, now, since they fought?"

"Seems like yesterday," Ron answered. "With Death-Eaters still out there, it seems sometimes like it will never end, either."

"Most refuse to believe that You-know-who is dead," Hermione sighed.

"Yeah, well, believe me, I get in to see Moody from time to time over at the Auror's offices, and they will be the first to tell you that if You-know-who was still around, we'd know by now," Ron replied. "Ever vigilance!"

Hermione let a small laugh slip out.

A couple of loud cracking sounds filled the air up the road a ways, and Hermione took her hand from Ron's not realizing she hadn't yet removed it from him as they had been talking.

"The others are coming," Ron whispered as he looked to see several wizards walking down the road to the marker. "It's okay, you know. I don't think anyone would be upset if you and I…were you know…"

"It's not about them, Ron, and you know it," Hermione answered, turning away to the marker.

"Then _what_ is it about?" Ron begged.

Hermione stood still, looking out across the ocean, taking in the salty air, watching as the rickety cabin on the far cliff swayed a little in the winds.

"Hallo!" Neville's voice carried on the wind.

"I kind of knew you all would already be here!" Luna cried out as she hurried down the road, her hair carrying on the wind.

Hermione brushed away one last tear and turned back to the group that was starting to amass. A smile came to her lips and she put her arms around Luna's shoulders.

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Austria

A beam of the dark moonlight pierced the highest point of the dark cave, scattering light through the echoes and valleys all about. Water entered under the cavern walls and rushed through the middle, before falling from a high cliff and sweltering into an unending cavern straight down and mining its way back to the great rivers and oceans miles away.

Two very small points of light intruded the darkness of the valleys, their presence covered by the sound of the great waterfall at the center of the room. Barely.

"Bobblum, you are an idium!" the smallest elf cursed as he bounced up and down on one toe while he held on to the other one. "Why'm did you drop the rock on my toesies!"

"Oh!" Bobblum cried, holding a hand to her mouth. "Ohmy, Iamsosorry, Iam! I did not means you any harm at all, little Wirm!"

"Stop calling me 'little'!" Wirm cried out. "And keep your voice down! You know what master said, he said to stay quiet or the dragons would awaken!"

"Ohyesohyesohyes!" Bobblum cried.

"Like this, you idian!" Wirm cried. "Snake Dragons like eating house-elves like you and me!"

"Ohyes, Iknow!" Bobblum cried.

Wirm eyed her carefully, rubbing the last of the pain out of his stubbed toe. Slowly, he turned away from her and continued walking forward towards the waterfall.

"Wirmy?" Bobblum asked.

"I told you not to call me that!" Bobblum shouted, raising his fist.

A low grumbling filled the air as the cavern began vibrating a little. Wirm shot forward and slapped his hand around Bobblum's mouth so she couldn't say anything. Slowly, dozens of yellow glowing eyes began to blink in the dark shadows of the cavern. Most were towards the ceiling, but some were nearby the two house-elves as they stood planted in a shadow, Wirm's knees shaking so hard they began rattling.

The two stood together for what felt like an eternity as the heads of the comparatively large beasts lifted and looked about the cavern.

Slowly, the heavy lids of the eyes of the beasts weighed too much and the Snake-Dragons closed them and began purring back to sleep.

"That was too close, Bobblum!" hissed the small house-elf. "You need to be much more quiet!"

Slowly Wirm turned to the other house-elf to see her looking at her own glowing fingertip and humming to herself.

Wirm hit his own forehead and grabbed the hand of the other elf, yanking her forward towards the waterfall.

"When will you ever learn that the light is your _own_ magic, you stoopid idium?" Wirm hissed.

"Oooh, pretty," Bobblum cooed as she batted a small yellow flower at the edge of the path.

"Oh, stop that!" Wirm hissed again. "Master said we are not to touch anything but the stone at the edge of the water!"

"Butwhatcould ithurttoplay withit?" Bobblum cooed.

Slowly, she patted the flower petal, watching as some of the pollen fell. She giggled as it landed on her nose.

"No, Bobblum!" Wirm hissed, but it was too late. Bobblum patted at her nose and then let out a loud sneeze.

The ground again trembled , but this time there was no fooling the Snake-Dragons. Quickly, they rose, and their eyes glowed so brightly as to illuminate the room completely.

"Run!" Wirm cried, holding the hand of his companion.

At least fifteen of the beasts darted through the arching rocks, sliding with such ease as to put a basilisk to shame. A low grumble came from their throats as they moved, their tongues flitting at the air, quickly picking up the elves' scents.

Wirm jumped over the nearest rock and snapped his fingers. The boulder tipped over and rolled down the path past the two elves, slamming hard into the first two dragons before splashing into the water at the end of the waterfall and the path.

Three more of the dragons slid around from behind as the two elves darted quickly through the rocks, Bobblum laughing the whole time as though it were all a simple game. One of the dragons caught up with the elves, slamming down with its head and snapping at the two. Wirm slid out of the way and yanked his partner aside reaching up with his hand and snapping his fingers again.

Rocks jutted up from the ground around him, the third one slicing clean through the beast.

Wirm turned to the path, readying to shoot forward again, but three more of the beasts appeared half-way down.

"Oh, what to do, what to do?" Wirm cried, rubbing his forehead. His eyes widened as an idea struck him. He turned, lifted Bobblum into the air and tossed her just off the path and to the side of the Snake-Dragons.

"Wheee!" Bobblum cried as she bounced out of view. The three dragons turned and gave chase after her.

"Yes!" Wirm laughed and shot down the path.

As he reached the end of the road, he slid along the last few feet of dirt and bounded into the water, swimming quickly through the water and pulling himself up on the other side of the waterfall.

The cliff reached straight up high above, as blank and smooth as could be. Slowly, Wirm began reaching around the wall with his thumb, searching for something, though he didn't really believe he would find it. Suddenly, a hint of light caught his eye and he stopped.

A wide smile came to his lips as he pressed his thumb to the glowing line on the wall. A shock of electricity ran through his body as he began outlining the lock on the wall. Growing in intensity, the sparks and bolts of electricity grew brighter the further along Wirm traced the outline.

After several minutes of intense pain, Wirm finished the complicated pattern and fell to the ground. The outline caught the moonlight and glowed brightly behind the waterfall.

"Finally!" Wirm hissed, holding his hand as his thumb throbbed. "It is complete! No--wait! What is that?"

His wide eyes followed the outline to a small square in the cavern wall. "What?" he asked. After a few seconds of thought, he slammed his palm into his forehead again. "Bobblum has the key!"

Slowly, he turned back from the waterfall and slid out along the sides to the pathway around the deep pool of water. "Um…Bobblums?" he asked aloud, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Bobblums?" he asked again, but there was no sign of her. Nor was there any sign of the Snake Dragons.

"Thereyouare!" Bobblum shouted. "DoyouknowhowmanyplacesIlookedforyou?"

"Uh…Oh!" Wirm cried. "Um…You're alive! Hoo--hooray? I…I was so worried about you?"

Bobblum looked carefully at him out of the corner of her eyes for a moment. She looked very skeptical, but then, quickly, her face broke out into a large smile. "Oh, Wirmy! I missedyoutoo!"

Wirm brushed the sweat from his forehead as she threw her arms around his shoulders. "Um…how did you kill the dragons?"

"Oh, Wirmy, itwasawful!" Bobblum cried. She then began telling a story so fast he couldn't even begin to follow what she was saying. From her occasional squeaks and animations it seemed to be a grand story. "Finally,theyjustranoff!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Wirm answered, his hands raised. "They just…ran off?"

"Ohyesohyes!" Bobblum cried. "Ithinktheywenttothiermother!"

"Their mother?" Wirm asked.

"Yes, she'srightthere," she answered, pointing to the water pool at the base of the fall.

An enormous dragon slowly lifted out from the water, the falls landing on her head and splattering about the ground around the base of the pool.

Wirm's eyes grew large as his ears drooped. "Move!" he shouted, grabbing her hand and yanking her into the waterfall.

The beast roared and turned towards the two. Wirm grabbed the square jewel on the necklace around Bobblum's neck and shoved it into the wall where the intricate design ended.

At once the ground began to tremble again, this time so violently boulders began falling from far above. The snake dragons roared and lifted from the waters, darting straight at the two house-elves as they cowered at the foot of the cliff.

Suddenly, the front creatures lifted off the ground and were thrust through the air, splattering on the roof of the cavern.

A figure lifted from behind the two elves and began floating in the air. With two simple motions of his hands the great dragon in the middle of the room sliced into two equal halves, right down the middle. Great globs of glowing yellow blood splashed to the ground all around the cavern.

"Wirmy, who is that?" Bobblum asked, her wide eyes focused on the strange man floating at the center of the room.

"I…I don't know," Wirm answered, his knees quaking.

"I thank you," an eerie, resonating voice echoed off the walls. It was deep and warm, as though a caring grandfather had just whispered warm greetings into the elves' ears. "For bringing me back to the world, I shall not let dragons eat you alive."

"Oh, praise be," Wirm sighed.

"Such an honor you have been bestowed upon by your masters, tell me…who are they?" the man asked.

"Master G--" Bobblum started but her mouth was quickly covered by Wirm's hand.

"Um, just ignore her," Wirm smiled. "We have many masters, actually. They call themselves the Death Eaters."

"I should like to meet with your masters, little ones," the man replied.

"Uh, right," Wirm answered. "You see, that is…they are in England, but…um--"

"England?" the man smiled. "Very good. That is all I shall need of you. You serve Wizards. Your own blood is tainted by the magic that lives in this world. Fear not, for I understand it is a rather pleasant experience."

"What is a pleasant experience?" Wirm asked, his face contorted suspiciously.

The floating figure lifted his hand and took a deep breath.

Wirm felt something fall over him, as though a very warm blanket were being pulled from the foot of his bed over his head. Slowly, he began to drift to the ground and a bright, warm light began to surround him.

"Wirmy?" Bobblum asked.

"Yes," Wirm answered.

"Whatishappeningtous?" Bobblum asked.

"I am taking your magic from you," the figure answered. "Because you were kind enough to help free me, I am doing it slowly. Were I to do it quickly, you would be in a great deal of pain. Be thankful, your last moments of life shall be in peace."

"L--last moments?" Wirm asked, trying to summon up some energy to run, but he quickly found himself too tired to move.

"Yes, my little friend," the man answered. "For you see, there are none in this world who I will let live."

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Orkney Islands

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"Easy, now," the young woman called over her shoulder. "They need to stay warm. My brother took care of these for a very long time."

A lock of her long red hair twisted from under her hood as she pulled her mitts on and lifted the egg from its nest. The small wooden boat rocked with the waves of the arctic ocean from the north as the small crew carefully pulled the last of the eggs from the straw and carried them to the small hut at the top of the hill.

"I can't thank you enough for your help, Ms. Weasley," the young wizard sighed as the three warlocks helped carry away the last of the eggs.

"Please, call me Ginny," she answered as she watched them carry the eggs up. "And, besides, it's the least I could do for the information you gave me, Sean."

"How long have you been searching?" the young warlock asked.

"When the battle ended," Ginny answered, pulling off the smoking mitts and looking back to the ocean. Slowly, she subconsciously rubbed her finger along the small diamond jewel around her neck. "And ever since."

"Well, I daresay it has been a while since that young man passed this way," Sean replied, turning to the hut. "We never really did catch his name, but, yes, the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead…well, that is unavoidable."

Ginny nodded slowly. "His name was Harry. Harry Potter."

**More to come…**


End file.
